1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to feeder and conveyor mechanisms for disc-shaped objects and, more particularly, to a feeder/conveyor mechanism for optical sampling cups.
2. Description of the Background
Various applications require the linear transfer of small disc-shaped objects along process lines, batch operations or product storage locations for quality control, testing, packaging, labeling, surface treatment, painting/coating etc. This is true for a wide variety of disc-shaped objects such as neodymium magnets, rollers, pulley wheels, etc.
By way of example, agricultural and food production operations requires in line or periodic testing at predetermined intervals to ensure that food quality standards are being met. Many agricultural and food production operations rely on spectroscopic analysis to test materials with radiated energy, and there are many different variations of spectroscopic analyzers on the market today. Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has greatly simplified and improved the speed of analysis for quality testing of grain, flours and beans. The use of near-infrared spectroscopy has led to higher sample throughput by replacing multiple time-consuming and complicated chemical techniques. Using NIR spectroscopy it is possible to non-destructively analyze inhomogeneous samples for moisture, protein, oil and many other parameters in less than one minute at all stages of production: grading, milling, oil extraction and final product quality verification. In most large scale operations such as grain processing, representative samples of the product are tested at predetermined internals. Commercial grain analyzers suitable for this purpose in grain production operations are currently available under the trade names FOSS® and NIRSYSTEMS®, among others. These and many other analyzers use “sample cups.”An amount of grain is deposited into a disc-shaped sample cup which has one or more windows, and measurements of radiation transmitted through or reflected through the grain via the window(s) is analyzed. Traditional grain analysis systems require an operator to monitor the process line and to manually remove representative samples of grain from the process line for testing by, i.e., transporting the samples by hand from the process line and depositing them into the sample cups, then hand-feeding into a grain analyzer individually. Such systems suffer from the additional manpower needed to monitor and select representative samples, transport them to the grain analyzer and monitor the progress of grain analysis before manually returning the sample container and/or the sample to the product line to repeat the process. Attempts have been made to automate the process. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,423 to Ishibashi issued Feb. 11, 1992 shows a modular analyzer in which sample cups are automatically transported and distributed via conveyer belts. Unfortunately, when it comes to feeding disc-shaped objects into a precise position at finely-timed intervals, conveyer belts do not provide the measure of control necessary.
It is also known that disc-shaped objects can be cradled on a pair of spaced cylindrical support rollers mounted side-by-side, and can be linearly conveyed there along. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,886,592 and 4,040,513 both to Walls describe a device for applying paint to one or more similarly sized and shaped discs as they are advanced along a production line. Walls' device includes a pair of generally cylindrical support rollers rotatably mounted in adjacent side-by-side relationship to provide a cradle for supporting a row of similar discs or the like on edge in adjacent relationship. The support rollers extend in parallel downward at an incline from the bearing supports, and are rotated in the same angular direction so that adjacent surfaces of the rollers move in opposite directions to both spin and advance the discs along the rollers from one end to the other. Advancement is acid to work by a gyro phenomenon called precession, with the discs spinning and tipped forward the tendency of the discs to fall forward urges them longitudinally down the support rollers.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,207 to Genev et al. describes an apparatus for applying protective coatings to cylindrical graphite bodies, in which a pair of shafts are axially offset. A disk rides in full contact against one shaft and in point contact with the other, switching at the crossover point of the shafts, the rotational force of the point contact advancing the disk along the shafts. To wit, the prior art feeding mechanisms disclosed by Genev and Walls are designed for in-line processes where no return chute is needed.
In addition, the accuracy of the conventional process of analyzing samples from a production line comprising grain or other agricultural or non-agricultural goods also suffers with greater variability in intervals between samples as they are taken from the production line. Ideally, for the best sample accuracy, a sample is removed from the process line and transferred immediately to a grain analyzer or other sampling device without delay, so that testing occurs as soon as possible after the sample is removed from the line. With grain, as with other types of agricultural goods and other selected products, defects occur in a non-random fashion due to differences in the way that batches of crops are grown, harvested, stored, etc. When samples from the production line are tested as soon as possible after being removed from the line, any samples that do not meet quality control standards may be noted as soon as possible and the batch(es) corresponding to same may be removed from production or otherwise corrected earlier in the process.
Accordingly, what is needed is a feeder/conveyor for sample cups that allows a human operator to fill a plurality of sample cups with materials to be analyzed, load those sample cups into a queue on the feeder/conveyor, the feeder/conveyor thereupon automating the infeed of the queued sample cups into an analyzer on an as-needed basis so that samples are tested as soon as possible after being removed from the fine. Also what is needed is a feeder/conveyor for sample cups that allows a human operator to load tested sample cups ejected from the analyzer back onto a return queue on the feeder/conveyor for prompt disposition.